Pretty Much Dead Already
by abbyisawalker
Summary: Amanda Harrison's dad was right. She should have done cross country. Maybe then it wouldn't be so difficult to put space between her and the flesh-eating monsters that have taken over the earth. Too late now. (Eventual Carl/OC)
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! It's been awhile since I uploaded a fic here, but I thought I'd give Amamda, the OC who I have tried countless** **times to write a final chance to shine. She's been the biggest idea in my head for a long time, so I thought I would giver her another shot. I won't be uploading chapter two until I get two reveiws telling me what you think. Also, I'm sit of debating weather or not to kill off Amy. I really want her to have a** bromance **type thing with Glenn. But I also want to keep the story as canon as possible, and there are** already **characters I know I'm not killing off. Anyways, let me know what you think!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own TWD,just the plot and Amanda.**

My dad had been right all of those times when he tried convincing me to do cross country. Of corse I didn't want to, I'm a singer not a runner. But singing doesn't come in handy much anymore. Running does, though. I'm always out of breath. At the moment, I'm running through the woods of the quarry. Swear drips down my face and I pant so hard. My throat feels like it's bleeding and I know that no matter how fast I try to run, he'll catch my anyway.

"Tag! You're it!" Shouts Carl Grimes, my best friend since I was a baby. His fingertips barely brush my spine, right between my shoulder blades. I turn quickly and try to reach out to get him back. "No tag backs!" He yells, running back deeper into the woods.

Luckily, to my right I here a girlish giggle and a sush. Smirking, I quickly maneuver my way towards the sound and tag Sophia on the shoulder. Eliza bolts to the left, and I to the right, both of us whooping and hollering like wild people, ignoring Sophia's complaints.

"Aw no fair!" She whines, "Amanda heard me giggle!"

I laugh as I run in Carl's direction, trying to remember which way it was that he'd gone.

"Psst, Amanda!" I look up, and there Carl is, sitting in a tree.

I smile and scamper up after him in complete silence.

"Good idea," I whisper.

He smirks proudly in response.

We sit in silence for a while, straining our ears to here the shouting and crunching footsteps of our companions. They come closer, calling our names.

"Carl!" Shouts Eliza's brother, Louis.

"Amanda!" Shout Sophia and Eliza herself.

I look at Carl, silently asking him if we should give up and come down.

He shakes his head.

"Hey, there they are!" Louis shouts, "Carl and Amanda sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"First comes love," the girls join in, "Then comes marriage, and here they come with a baby carriage."

Carl and I turn red. "Shut up you guys!" He yells.

They all laugh, "Come on, it's time for dinner!" Sophia informs.

Carl and I jump out of the tree and begin to follow the rest of the kids to camp.

My sister Amy greets me with a hug when I get back to camp.

"Any news from Andrea?" I ask her.

"Nothing yet," she sighs.

Yesterday, my biggest sister Andrea went with Eliza and Louis' dad, T-Dog, Jaqui, Merle Dixon, and Glenn to Atlanta to find supplies. Dale had been on the roof of his RV all day trying to get a signal from them.

I sigh with Amy. I've been told time and time again that I look a lot like my sister. Blond hair, slim nose, plump lips. My eyes are definitely more like Andrea's, but if you didn't know Andrea was my sister you couldn't have guessed. It's funny how spaces out our parents had all of us. Andrea and I are 25 years apart, while Amy and I are 13 years apart. Maybe once I get older, I'll look more like Andrea. Maybe Amy will, too.

From what my dad used to say, I act more like Andrea. Andrea is tough and smart. Street smart and book smart. I went to New York last year, and now I cross the street without looking both ways. Andrea laughed when I asked her if that counted as being street smart, and she said she didn't think so. But I think it counts. Carl does, too.

Carl and me have been best friends ever since I was born. Andrea and Carl's mom, Lori, are best friends. I was born a month after Carl, so he is both my first and longest friend. And best, but I said that already.

I've been attached at the hip with Carl Grimes my whole entire life. Anywhere he went, I went. Anything I did, he did. That's just the way it was. Last month his father was shot on the job. I remember coming out of school with him that day, and in the distance I could see Andrea and Lori standing together, along with family friend Shane Walsh. The three of them looked pale and shaky. Carl waved to his mom, seemingly unfazed by her bizarre stance. I grabbed his wrist and looked at him, motioning with my eyes to where the three adults stood. He caught on, also developing a worried look on his face. It seemed like hours before we reached them. Lori took Carl aside and Andrea told me the news. Tears brimmed in my eyes and I looked at Carl, who was beginning to cry. I ran to him, wrapping him in big hug. I pulled away, touching our foreheads together. Shane put an arm around Lori and one around Carl, and told Andrea to meet them at the hospital.

In the week after Rick Grimes had been shot, Carl and I formed a new level of friendship and trust. I never left his side for a moment. To be honest, I didn't have a choice. Andrea never left Lori's side either. I found myself wondering if Carl and I would be friends for the rest of our lives just like them. Maybe we would get married. I used to roll my eyes and gag at the thought, but it made sense. I couldn't imagine myself being happy with anybody else. And it wasn't that I like-liked Carl. It was just that he was my most favorite person in the whole entire world.

I doubt it matters anymore. After the world as I knew it fell to pieces, I doubted I would get married to anyone.

All of a sudden, a loud alarm pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Talk to me, Dale!" Shane yells.

"Can't tell yet," the old man says back.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asks.

"Stolen car," Dale decides.

I climb on top of Shane's jeep, and sure enough a red sports car comes rushing along the quarry rode. It comes to a halt at the camp site and Glenn jumps out.

"Where's Andrea? Is she with you? Is she alive?" Amy asks frantically.

"Turn that damn thing off!" Shane yells.

"Don't know how!" Glenn shouts back.

"IS SHE OKAY?" Amy screams.

"Yes! She's fine. Everyone is." Glenn puts his hands up in surrender.

Sure enough, a truck pulls up behind the stolen sports car. Andrea runs out, and Amy and I run to her, crying. It feels good to be in the arms of my older sister again. She kisses my head.

After we finish our hug, Andrea looks up at Lori.

"Hey, Lo," she calls, "I brought you a present."

In what feels like slow motion, Rick Grimes gets out of the truck. Carl reacts first, yelling "Dad!" And runs to his father. Rick breaks down and Lori comes running after Carl, crying as well.

At this point, everybody is crying. After Rick hugs his family, he hugs me and Amy and Shane. He looks so pale and frail, but so strong at the same time.

Carl hugs me as well, and I think that maybe things are looking up.


	2. Chapter 2

It had always been a well known fact in King County that the Harrison sisters were untouchable. All three of them born to Andrew and Allison Harrison, the only two lawyers in town. The family of five lived above the little law firm on main street, right next to the sheriff's office. The eldest daughter, Andrea, went to law school at a small private collage about an hour and a half away. She returned after six years and became the third Harrison lawyer in the family. The second daughter, Amy, was the receptionist in the Harrison Family Law firm, opting to take a course in business online instead of going away to collage. The youngest daughter, Amanda, was in eighth grade at KC Junior High, and she walked there every morning, accompanied by the chief sheriffs' son, Carl Grimes.

You see, King County was the type of town where everybody knew everybody. The type of town you read about in books. King County was built upon routine.

Every morning at 7:30, Rick and Carl Grimes would park in front of the station. Carl would get out of the car and Amanda would run to meet him, having been watching for him from the window.

Amy would chase after Amanda, as the 13 year old girl forgot her lunch every morning. The two of them would disappear down the street.

7:35: Shane Walsh and Andrea Harrison park next to the Grimes' beat up station wagon. Andrea thanks Shane for the ride from the apartment buildings and promises to pay for gas, which she never does because Shane literally lives in the apartment next door. They part ways and enter their respective businesses.

7:44: Amanda and Carl arrive at school, one minuet before the warning bell. The run into home room together just as the bell begins to ring.

3:00: Amanda exits her classroom opposite Carl's and waits for him in the middle of the hall, causing frustration to many passing students. Carl grins at her as he exits.

3:05: Lori pulls through the pick up land and Carl and Amanda enter her car. Lori asks many questions about the days of both children.

3:09: Lori drops Amanda and Carl at the law firm and the two go upstairs to do homework and watch TV.

5:00: Rick finishes his shift and he and Carl go home.

6:00: The Harrison's eat dinner and watch the six o'clock news.

7:00: Mr. Harrison drives Andrea home and Amy and Amanda go to one of their rooms to read books and talk.

8:30: Amanda gets ready for bed.

9:00: Amanda falls asleep with the lights on and a book propped open on her pillow.

Repeat.

I write all of this down on a sheet of paper, making sure to remember all of the details. I'm worried I'll forget once things go back to normal. IF things go back to normal.

"Hey, Amanda! Wanna go swim?" Eliza calls, her dark hair fluttering around her shoulders in the spring time breeze.

"Sure." I respond, placing my pencil in the spiral of my battered green notebook. I always keep a notebook and I've had this one for about a month. I love to write. I scribble down nearly everything in the crisp, white pages of notebooks. From poems to stories to lists and all things in between.

"Be there in a sec," I tell Eliza, taking my notebook into the RV. I grab a sports bra, and extra pair of undies and one of my dad's old shirts and dress in that. The shirt covers my knees, and it smells like gasoline and peppermints. That's what my dad smells like. Smelled like. No matter how many times I jump into the waters of the quarry wearing it, the smell never fades.

I run down the trail to the water barefoot, pretending not to notice the tiny pebbles digging into my feet. Carl, Sophia, and Eliza are already in the water splashing and giggling. Louis sits on the bank under the watch of Sophia's mom, Carol.

"C'mon Amanda!" Carl shouts to me.

"Is it cold?" I ask.

"Not at all!" Sophia and Carl say together.

"Jinx!" Carl shouts at her, pushing her into the water.

I laugh and take off running into the water.

Eliza dunks me once I reach her, and I respond by creating a wave with my arm, hitting her right in the face. Carl laughs at her, and she turns her attention onto him, splashing and dunking.

"Uncle, uncle!" Carl yells, sputtering and laughing. Eliza relents.

"I'm watching you, Grimes," she says in a sinister voice, disappearing below the surface. She pops up next to Sophia moments later.

"Look! There's Andrea and Amy!" Sophia shouts.

My older sisters are in a boat, attempting to fish.

"Let's go flip the boat!" I say.

"No, that's mean!" Sophia responds, brow furrowed.

"I don't think I can swim all of the way out there." Eliza says, shrugging.

"Carl?" I ask.

"Yeah, let's do it!"

Carl and I disappear below the water, silently swimming like frogs. We pop up to take a breath at the same time, barley sticking our heads above the surface. We go under again, breath again, go back under and once we reach the little boat, we hide in the shade it provides.

"... Amanda doesn't even know that yet." Andrea says.

I look to Carl confused, and he attempts to shrug under water.

"Should we tell her? It's not fair to let her think mom and dad might still be alive."

My heart breaks into a million pieces.

I was at school the day it happened. An announcement came over the loud speaker in home room.

"We are on lockdown, I repeat, we are on lockdown."

"Is this a drill?" Someone asked the teacher.

"No, it's not." She responded, nearly hyperventilating.

Carl, who hadn't been to school until today because of Rick's incident, grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the classroom.

Nobody noticed.

"What are you doing?" I whispered harshly.

"It's not a shooter. It's that weird disease thing that's going around. I heard the doctors at the hospital talking about it. We have to go find our families." He explains, still dragging me down the hall.

I hear screaming from our homeroom behind us.

"C'mon!" Carl shouts, dragging me by the hand as we run down the hall.

We turn a corner and are met with a terrifying, rotting thing. It was our librarian. The thing that used to be an old woman growls at us, extending its arms and reaching for my jacket. It grabs the fabric and I shriek as its mouth closed in on my shoulder. Carl kicks the thing backwards and it falls, arm detaching from the rest of its body, hand still attached to my jacket.

I scream "Get it off, get it off!" Carl declaws the sickly pink fingernails from where they have dug into the soft purple fabric and throws the whole arm at the thing, which is begging to stir again.

"More!" I yell, spotting a group of the rotters behind us.

Carl and I run through the halls, toward a side door. It's in our sights, and we make a clean break for it.

Outside, I see Shane's jeep with Andrea, Amy, and Lori inside with him. Sirens blare all around us, and I can see smoke in the distance. Carl and I reach the jeep and Amy pulls me inside the back seat, while Lori grabs Carl upfront.

"What's going on? Where's mom and dad?" I yell.

"It's okay, they're fine!" Andrea grabs my cheeks. "It's gonna be okay."

She was lying.

Carl looks at me as my brow furrows and a single tear rolls down my face. I feel his hand grab mine under the water, but I don't look at him. Instead, I do exactly what I came here to do.

Flip the boat.

Andrea and Amy shriek as the boat tips, and they fall out, they surface wet, looking around frantically for that caused the tip, sputtering.

"How could you not tell me?" I yell at them, swimming to where they are.

"Amanda? How-"

"I heard what you said! How could not tell me that mom and dad died?"

"We didn't want you to freak out..." Andrea says.

"So you tell me later? You had to tell me at some point! When did you think I would find out, huh? Sometime far off into the future when everything's back to normal?" I yell, infuriated. "How could you keep this from me? You're the only family I have left. We can't keep secrets."

"You're right, we should have told you." Amy says, reaching out to stroke my hair.

"C'mon, let's get back into the boat and we can talk about it." Andrea suggests, paddling over to the wooden boat.

"So... They're really gone?" I ask once we're all in the boat. Carl swam back to the others, not joining us in the boat.

"Yeah," Amy whispers.

I take a deep breath, "I kinda figured."

"I know you did kiddo." Andrea sighs.

"So, what do we do now?" I ask.

"We have each other. We have this group. We'll be alright."

I hope she's right.


	3. Chapter 3

I talked to Merle Dixon one time. It was the first day we had all met each other and decided to camp out together at the quarry. Keep in mind that I've never been the girl to be scared by much, and I like people a lot. There's not very many people who can scare me, but Merle Dixon can. He and Sophia's father, Ed were the only two people I was wary about at camp. I was wary of Merle before he even talked to me, and when he did start talking, I knew I was right to be afraid.

"Hey you! Blondie with the braids," he called out in his thick redneck accent. I looked around, hoping for a rescue from the greying man, but none came. I was playing by myself down by the quarry waters, digging trenches in the sand. He had sprung up behind me, unwelcome and with a grin that would put the Cheshire Cat to shame.

"Hey girlie I don't want no trouble, just got a few, uh, questions for ya." He drawled.

"I'm not supposed to talk to strangers," I answered bravely, my voice coming out louder than expected.

"Aw c'mon girlie, I ain't no stranger," Merle coaxed.

"Yes you are. I don't even know your last name." I taunt, standing up on the beachy sands.

"Dixon," he replied, shortly.

"What are your questions?" I ask, changing the subject and trying to end the conversation as soon as possible.

"Well those two older sisters you got... What are their names again?" He smirked coyly.

"Barbra and Betty," I answer easily.

"And what's yours?"

"Becky."

"Well what a lovely name."

"Thank you. It's after my mothers pet snake."

"Huh. That's so?"

"Yes sir."

"Huh. Well, that's all... Becky. Lovely talking with you." He began to walk up the path back to camp.

"Anytime Mr. Dixon!" I wave sweetly.

"Nice going, Becky." I hear Carl's voice behind me.

I laugh. "Thanks."

Later that evening, Amy and Andrea both become very confused as to why Merle Dixon is calling them by names that don't belong to them.

-Break-

The last thing I expected to see while playing tag in the woods was a Walker munching away on a deer with two arrows sticking out of its ass. But if you haven't guessed already, that's exactly what I saw.

We all ran away screaming, all of the children except me calling out for their mother. I didn't have a mother to call out for. I was, however, greeted by Andrea and Amy, who each grabbed my shoulders and yelled things like "Nothing but you?" "Nothing scratched you?"

The answer was no on both counts. I was handed off to Lori as my sisters followed the men down to the deer, hoping to catch a glimpse of the walker that had strayed so far up the mountain.

"Amanda, you're bleeding." Eliza said, pointing to me knee.

"Oh. I tripped on our way out. I didn't even feel it." I respond, looking down at my bloodied knee.

"That's what fear will do to you, sweetie." Says Jaqui.

I've always wondered why Jaqui doesn't have kids. She's so good with them.

"Let me see if there's any first aid stuff in the RV," she smiles.

She comes out a few moments later with two big band aids and some sort of spray that I know will sting.

"Here we go," she stations herself between my knees, paying attention to the left one, the one that's scraped up.

Jaqui uses a cloth to wipe away the blood before spraying the stuff into my leg. It stings a lot, and angry white bubbles surface onto the wound. I hiss and curl my toes at the harsh sensation.

I feel a warm hand grab mine. It's Carl's.

"You can squeeze, if you want to." He says.

Jaqui sprays the area a second time and even though it doesn't hurt as bad as the first time, a squeeze Carl's hand anyway. It feels good, holding hands. It makes me feel closer to Carl. It's like when I used to go lay in bed with my dad. I would snuggle as close to him as possible, but I never felt like I could get close enough. Maybe one day I'll get to cuddle Carl.

Jaqui wipes the wound again with the cloth, making me wince and squeeze Carl's hand again.

She placed one of the big band aids over my knee, and hands me the other one.

"Change it before you go to bed," she instructs me.

I nod and thank her.

"Ay Merle!" Shouts a gruff voice. "Got sum squirrel!"

It's Daryl Dixon.

"You best get your white ass out here and help me skin 'em!"

"Daryl, I've got to talk to you." Shane says, his voice calm.

"'Bout what?"

"About Merle. There was a problem in Atlanta."

Daryl pauses before answering.

"He dead."

"We don't know."

"Well he either is or he ain't!" The hunter fumes.

"Look, there's no easy was to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick comes forward.

"Who are you?" Daryl asks.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes? You got something you wanna tell me?"

Rick takes a breath before answering.

"Your brother was a danger to us all. So I hand cuffed him to the roof. He's still there."

T-Dog jumps in, "It's not Ricks fault. I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?"

"I dropped it down a drain. But before I left, I padlocked the door to the roof shut."

"That supposed to make me feel better?" Daryl sounds as though he's on the verge of tears.

"It's got to count for something." Dale says.

"Just tell me where he is. So's I can go get him." Daryl throws his arms up in defeat.

"He'll show you." Lori says.

"I'll go, too." T-Dog volunteers.

"Glenn? I'd feel a lot better if you came with me. You know your way around. In and out easy, just like you said." Rick pleads.

"Alright," Glenn sighs.

"Are you kidding me? Sacrificing four men for Merle Dixon?" Shane asks Rick.

"It ain't just about him. I left a bag of guns on the street. Two shotguns, two riffles and over a dozen hand guns." Rick says.

"Ammo?" Shane runs his head.

"Over 700 rounds."

"Dad, I don't want you to go!" Carl shouts.

It's then I realize he's still holding my hand. I quickly pull it back, looking around and hoping nobody noticed.

Sophia and Eliza giggle at me, and all I can think is "oh no. I'm so screwed."

-break-

I'm too tired to care about Dale's watch. The feeling of Andrea stroking my hair lulls me to sleep as we sit around the campfire.

"Amy, why don't you take Amanda to the RV so she can get some sleep," Andrea says.

Amy scoops me up and carries me to the RV, setting me up on the top bunk of the bunk beds.

"We'll be back soon, okay?" She whispers, kissing my temple.

"M'kay," I reply sleepily.

Moments later I am awakened by screaming.

"AMY!" I hear Andrea yell.

I jump off the bunk and grab a large kitchen knife out of the drawer.

I burst outside of the RV to see a walker on top of Amy as she tries to push it off. Quickly, I do what I've seen Shane do. I push the knife through the back of the walkers head. It falls limp on top of my sister and I help her up. She shakes and tears roll down her face, but she's alive.

"Amy!" Andrea cries, hugging both of us.

"Watch out!" I hear Lori yell.

More walkers invade the camp, biting people left and right.

All of a sudden, I hear gunshots.

"They're back!" Yells Amy.

"Dad!" Carl shouts.

Rick, Daryl, T-Dog, and Glenn come into the camp, shooting at all of the walkers.

When all of them are dead, we count the casualties.

Sophia's father, Ed.

Eliza and Louis' mother.

Susan, John, Matt, Michelle. So many others.

I know one thing for sure. Nobody's getting any sleep tonight.

-break-

"Dude, I can't believe you killed that walker," Carl says to me the next morning. "You saved Amy."

"You'd have done the same if it was your older sister." I tell him.

We're both currently on our backs inside of the old wooden boat. Carl's feet are in the opposite direction of my fave, and vice versa, so that our heads lay side by side on the floor of the dingy.

"We have to leave today." Carl says.

"I know."

"Even farther from home."

"I know."

"Aren't you scared?"

"Yes."

"You don't seem scared."

"Neither do you."

He tilts his head to face me, and I meet his eyes.

"How do you know I'm afraid?" He asks.

"How could you not be afraid?"

"Touché."

We keep staring at each other and it's funny to me how much comfort I find in his eyes. They are so familiar to me. It's almost like home.

He looks away first.

"Carl! Amanda!" I hear Lori yell.

"It's time to go." Andrea calls.

We sit up in the boat and row back to shore.

"Wait!" Carl says as I try to make my way up the path to my sister.

"What?"

"Give me your knife."

I look back at Lori and Andrea, "Give us a sec!"

"Don't be too long," Lori says with a slight smile.

I turn back to Carl and hand him my small Swiss Army knife.

He flips it open and begins to carve something into the side of the boat.

When he's done, he hands the knife back to me. He's only put two letters:

C+A

I grin, "Come on!"

We run up the path together.

He gets into a small red car with Sophia and Carol and his parents. I stay in the RV with Dale, Andrea, Amy, Jaqui, T-Dog, Shans, Glenn, Morales, Eliza, and Louis.

The Morales family was supposed to leave for Kentucky, but after Miranda's death last night, they decided to come with us.

Eliza and Louis hold hands and look at their dad. Morales just looks empty and sad.

"Hey, Glenn." I say, trying to make conversation.

"What's up, little lady?" He responds, grinning.

I like Glenn a lot. He's kind and brave and more capable than people give him credit for.

I'm about to answer before Morales shushes us.

We look to him and then each other. Glenn mouths "later" to me and I nod.

"CDC, here we come!" Dale whisper yells.

I hope deep in my heart that the CDC will give us answers.

And so does everyone else.


End file.
